Taming The Beast
by Arztwolf
Summary: Dr. Henry Jekyll manages to separate himself from Mr. Edward Hyde. This version of Dr. J and Mr. H are based off those voiced by the late Leonard Nimoy in the 1994 animated movie, "The Pagemaster".
1. Chapter 1

Dr. Henry Jekyll was finally rid of that vile presence, Edward Hyde. It had taken many months of experimentation, but he'd finally done it! Now he could live with no more unseemly urges or vile thoughts, he'd be a pure and enlightened being. But, a problem remained; what to do with Hyde?

Right now the cretin was tied to a chair, swearing and cursing at Jekyll as the doctor studied him from a safe distance. Hyde's scruffy black hair covered one of his yellow eyes, the pupil blood red. He gnashed his shark like teeth and clenched his fists as he wiggled in an attempt to escape, but the ropes held and he ended up slumping down in exhaustion after several minutes. Unable to break free, he resorted to swearing even louder. A particularly ingenious use of profanity earned him a resounding slap across the face.

"I will not tolerate that kind of language!" Jekyll scolded the brute.

Hyde growled and bared his teeth at him, earning himself another slap. After that he just sat sullenly glaring at Jekyll like a petulant child, both of sides of his face turning pink. Jekyll pulled up a chair and sat in front of him.

"Now then, what am I going to do with you?"

Hyde spat at him and Jekyll unflinching wiped it off and stood up. Sighing, he reached down and grabbed Hyde by one pointy, notched ear. Hyde yelped and stared wide eyed at Jekyll as he lowered his face to within an inch of his own.

"Listen to me, you insolent runt!" He angrily growled in Hyde's face. "I will not hesitate to lock you away in the dungeon for all eternity, do you understand me?"

Hyde nodded.

"I know you have some humanity left in you, I know we can have a discussion like rational beings. So, would you like to talk?"

"Y-Yes, s-sir." The terrified monster said, being respectful for the first time in his short "life".

"Good. Now, I can't take you out into society behaving the way you do. So some training is in order."

Hyde started to growl, but painful tug on his ear made him stop.

"No more growling! Gentlemen do not growl."

Jekyll let go of Hyde's ear and stood with his hands on his hips, sternly looking down at the monster like a disappointed parent. Hyde stared back, baring his teeth but not growling this time..

Jekyll rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, it's a start."


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of the grandfather clock ticking away the minutes was the only sound in the oppressively silent room. Jekyll, a napkin tucked into the collar of shirt, sat at the large dining room table, a plate of steak and broccoli on the table before him; Hyde sat opposite, hunched over his plate with a hungry expression on his face as he waited for Jekyll to allow him to eat. A wooden ruller Jekyll kept hidden under the table was the only reason Hyde hadn't just ignored Jekyll and wolfed the steak down; the backs of his hands were covered in welts, proof that there had been a steep learning curve.

"Sit up straight!" Jekyll commanded, rapping the stick on the table.

Hyde sat bolt upright, not wanting another welt.

"Now, tuck that napkin into your shirt and hold your cutlery appropriately."

Hyde picked up his knife and fork and sat waiting expectantly; Jekyll nodded his approval and picked up his own knife and fork.

"Now, eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly."

Hyde, still uncomfortable eating with utensils, slowly cut the steak; it took all his willpower to not drop the cumbersome tools and pick it up and devour it like a wild animal. The two ate in silence, Hyde pushing the broccoli as far away from the steak as he could; Jekyll noticed and kept his on the offending vegetation.

"You will not leave till THAT is gone," he pointed at the broccoli with his fork.

Hyde growled and cursed under his breath; Jekyll raised an eyebrow and Hyde rolled his eyes.

"That's two," Jekyll told him, brandishing the ruler.

Hyde snarled something so vile that it made Jekyll pull the napkin out of his shirt and slam it onto the table.

"What did you just say?!"

Hyde smirked and repeated it. He then leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the table, a move planned to enrage Jekyll. To his disappointment Jekyll didn't rise to the bait. Instead, he calmly stood up and walked around the table; Hyde, his arms folded, watched as the man slowly approached him with the ruler.

"Touch me with that bloody stick and I'll-"

Jekyll kicked the chair out from under Hyde and put his foot down on the center of Hyde's back, pinning him to the floor.

"You WILL NOT USE THAT KIND OF LANGUAGE AGAIN!" Jekyll scolded him as he brought the ruler down on Hyde's rear.

Hyde yelped and attempted to grab hold of Jekyll's leg only to be swatted again; Hyde, enraged, glared up at Jekyll. Who does that stupid man think he is to humiliate him like this!? Wrenching his body around, he began slamming his fists into Jekyll's thigh. Hyde froze at the sound of a gun being cocked.

Jekyll had a gun aimed point blank at his head and from the expression on his face he was seriously considering using it.

"Get up and bend over the table; NOW!" Jekyll ordered as he set the now uncocked pistol down.

Doing as he was ordered, Hyde bent over the tabled and flinched when he felt his trousers being yanked down. He didn't have to wait long, for Jekyll began spanking him with the ruler the minute his trousers passed his knees.

"Stop, please, stop!" Hyde begged and pleaded as his arse turned a nice shade of pink.

"Stop!? Do you seriously think I'll stop just because you ask me to!? You, who have made mine and other's lives a living hell?"

Seeing that his first tactic didn't work, Hyde tried another. "I'LL BE GOOD! I'LL BE GOOD!" He howled.

Jekyll raised an eyebrow. "And I should believe you, why?"

Defeated, Hyde slumped down onto the table and waited for the torture to end. Soon it all became too much for him and he began kicking his feet and sobbing like a child, not caring that Jekyll was watching him.

By the time it finally ended he was laying limply across the table, his face tearstained. The only thing he wanted to do now was ran away and hide in some dark corner, far away from everyone and everything. But before he could do that, he heard Jekyll walk up behind him and, too his complete shock, pulled his trousers up and started to rub his back. Sniffling and blinking back tears he turned to look at the kindly doctor.

"Why are you doing that?"

Jekyll stopped. "Why not?"

"People aren't nice to monsters. They burn them, stick stakes in them or shoot them with silver bullets; so why are you doing this? You hate me, everyone hates me!"

Jekyll smiled down at him and brushed away a tear Hyde hadn't been able to stop from running down his cheek. "Because, no one is pure evil."

Hyde pushed himself up from the able and studied Jekyll. "You want me here?"

Jekyll nodded. "Yes and I know what you really need right now." So saying he opened his arms and Hyde all but dove into them, burying his face in Jekyll's chest and crying silently as Jekyll held him tight.

"Let's go up to my rooms; it'll be warmer and more comfortable there."

Hyde's eyes slowly closed as he lay with Jekyll on his bed. He could not believe how good it felt to be this close to another living creature, being able to touch someone without them recoiling in horror or brandishing a weapon. He savored the feeling of Jekyll running his hands through his hair and loved the scent of his cologne and the warmth of his body. Feeling loved and protected, he dozed off in the arms of the one who loved him.


	3. Chapter 3

They spent the rest of the night together, Jekyll putting his arms around Hyde in a fatherly hug as Hyde slept snuggled up next to him like a young puppy. The next day Hyde followed him around and proved to be as helpful as he was clingy. He did whatever Jekyll asked of him, from cleaning the floor to patrolling the hallways and grounds of the castle to be sure it was free of unwanted guests. Once that was done he'd silently creep back into Jekyll's bedroom and crawl up beside him, trying his hardest not to wake Jekyll, but always failing.

"How's my puppy?" Jekyll would whisper as he reached out and stroked Hyde's furred cheek. Hyde would smile and burrow under the blankets to get out of the chill of the night as Jekyll went back to sleep, now with the added warmth of a small body beside him.

Life went on in this fashion till one day Jekyll announced he was going to the nearest town, which meant a walk of over two miles through the haunted woods surrounding the castle. Hyde pleaded and begged him not to go, citing all the horrific things that lived in those woods, but Jekyll shrugged him off and ordered him to stay in the castle; he didn't want someone to break in while he was gone. Hyde stood by one of the windows and watched mournfully as Jekyll walked past the gate and out of sight.

Jekyll, his walking stick tapping away on the rutted road, wished for the thousandth time that he had a horse or better yet, a hackney or some other method of travel that didn't require him to wear out so many pairs of shoes. Deep in thought, he stopped paying attention to his surroundings, a mistake he would shortly pay for.

Back at the castle, Hyde was frantically pacing before the big door. He whimpered and frowned as the minutes ticked by, terrified that his only friend on earth was going to have some terrible calamity befall him. As he worried and fretted, a sound came to his keen, pointy ears, that chilled him to the bone. With a wolf like howl he threw upon the door and ran as fast he could.

The first thing he noticed was a musty smell permeating the woods around him, then the heavy breathing of an animal, it's instincts aroused by the smell of what could only be deemed easy prey. Jekyll turned around in time to see a very large and very hungry looking Werewolf standing less than ten feet from him, saliva dripping from its open jaws as the beast panted and moved its tongue over its inch long canines. Jekyll held his cane before him, knowing full well it was a futile gesture. He watched, confused, as the beast stopped and sniffed the air. A sudden banshee shriek and then Hyde and the Werewolf hit the ground, both snarling and clawing at each other. They wrestled for several minutes till Hyde was launched off the monster and into a nearby tree. Jekyll flinched at the sickening crunch of breaking bone. Hyde yelped, but got back up and flung himself at the beast for another round. This time, to Jekyll's amazement, he pinned the beast to the forest floor and bared his teeth. Jekyll covered his eyes as Hyde sank his deadly fangs into the creature's neck.

Uncovering his eyes he found Hyde standing sheepishly before him, panting and covered in the Werewolf's blood.

"Daddy," he whimpered before doubling over and passing out from the pain of his multiple broken bones.

Jekyll ran over to him and scooped him up, grateful that the monster was smaller and lighter then him. With a last glance at the Werewolf's carcass, he carried Hyde back to the castle.

Hyde awoke to Jekyll using a warm cloth to clean the blood from his face. Still tasting the Werewolf's blood, he opened his eye and saw Jekyll staring down at him concernedly. Seeing that he was awake, Jekyll set the cloth down and brushed some of Hyde's unruly black hair out of his eyes.

"You did good, my pup."

"B-But, I disobeyed you."

Jekyll smiled and kissed Hyde's forehead. "You saved my life, that's all that matters."


	4. Chapter 4

He needed to sleep, but his keen ears wouldn't allow him to; he heard every step the mice and rats made in the walls, every scratch of a tree branch on the roof over his head, every crackle and pop made by the fire in the grate that kept the cold at bay. Covering his ears in an attempt to block the noise didn't help, all it did was make it so he could hear his ragged breathing and be reminded of the bones he'd broken that day; his left clavicle and two ribs on the same side. Agony.

Jekyll had given him some Morphine once he'd wrapped his middle and made sure he was comfortably situated in the bed. But that was hours ago and the pain had come back with a vengeance. Moaning, he slowly sat up, air hissing between his teeth at the pain that simple movement caused. He should be patrolling the halls and grounds of the castle, not stuck in bed like an invalid!

"Can't sleep?"

Hyde looked up at Jekyll standing in the doorway and growled low in his throat. "What do you think? I just sit up and think of ways to solve mankind's woes at 2:00 in the damn morning!"

"From that answer I can tell you need more Morphine."

Jekyll walked over to the nightstand and picked up a syringe he'd left lying there. He next picked up a small glass bottle and pulled the cork out. Dipping the needle into the contents of the bottle he drew up a dose and quickly recorked it. Hyde, who'd been warily watching the process, rolled up his sleeve as Jekyll approached him with the syringe.

"Do it like you did last time, please." Hyde pleaded as he eyed the needle.

Jekyll smiled as he patted his shoulder. "Close your eyes and relax, I'll take care of you, don't worry."

Hyde obeyed and slowed his breathing as Jekyll gave him the shot with one hand while the other held Hyde's head close to his chest.

"Done."

Hyde opened his eyes and smiled up at his only friend in the world. "Thanks," he told Jekyll quietly as the drug began to take effect. Jekyll reached down and ran a hand through Hyde's hair, a touch the monster savored.

"Get some sleep, your body needs it."

His eyes growing heavier by the minute, Hyde laid back down and allowed Jekyll to cover him with the quilt; it didn't take long for Hyde to drift back to sleep. Before leaving, Jekyll bent over and kissed the monster on the forehead, something he'd thought he'd never do.


	5. Chapter 5

Four weeks later and Hyde's broken bones had mended enough for Jekyll to allow him to do more than sleep, eat and stare at the ceiling in complete boredom. The first thing he did was head out into the deep woods that ringed the castle.

Jekyll, sitting in his favorite chair reading a newspaper, watched as the monster loped into the woods. He couldn't imagine what the brute was doing out there, the woods stretched for miles around, effectively isolating them from the outside world. He put it out of his mind as he read about the terror and woe of the world beyond the castle. Several minute later the he heard the door slam and lowered his paper in time to scream like a young woman.

Hyde was beaming with pride as he stood before Jekyll with his prize; a freshly killed rabbit, its head eaten as a snack on the way back to the castle. He was covered in blood and a pool of it had begun to form at his feet.

"T-Take t-that to the kitchen, at once!" Jekyll, flustered and with a hand to his chest, pointed out the door. "And clean up that mess when you come back!"

Hyde made an obscene gesture with his free hand before spinning around and storming out of the room to leave Jekyll slumped in his chair, fearing for the state of his nerves.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Gladys; he'll be the death of me, I swear it!"

The plump matronly housekeeper looked at her employer with concern as he she poured him some tea to help calm him down. She was one of the few privy to his secret, so she at least understood some of his troubles.

"The poor creature needs a mother."

Jekyll, who'd had his head on his folded arms, sat up and looked at her in disbelief.

"A mother? What on earth for? Gladys, he's a wild animal! He'd probably torture her hellishly before eating her alive!"

Gladys rolled her eyes and sighed. "Who, besides you, does he have in his life?"

Jekyll stared off into space as he attempted to answer her. The answer was obvious; besides himself, Hyde was alone.

"But why a mother?"

"He's young and lost, Mr. Jekyll. You told me yourself he's like a child. He even called you "Daddy", remember?"

"I do. But my own mother has been in the grave for years and my aged father would jump into his the minute he saw HIM." Jekyll gestured out the window. Hyde was napping in the shade of the large willow tree in front of the castle, oblivious to their discussion.

"He's lonely, sir."

"Lonely? But I-"

"You only talk to him when you're not busy, which I daresay is rather often." She told him accusingly as she began to absentmindedly scrub the table with a wet dishrag.

She had a point; he had been rather busy lately and hadn't had much time to pay attention to Hyde.

"I've seen the way he looks after you tell him to leave you alone; it's like a beaten puppy, sir. He mopes around the castle for hours, like he's searching for something."

She began to scrub at an imaginary stain.

"The servants-"

"Are scared of him."

By now the table was shaking and Jekyll had to pick up his tea least it end up in his lap.

"He's miserable and hiding it, isn't he?"

"Yes, Sir, that he is."

Out of breath, she stopped scrubbing, much to Jekyll's relief, before the table was reduced to kindling.


	6. Chapter 6

A single raindrop ended Hyde's wonderful dream. A dream were he had an actual family and friends, a world he longed to escape to each and every day. His nightmare began when he opened his eyes and saw the ominous dark clouds above his head.

He hated storms more than anything since he'd left the cozy world of Jekyll's head. At least there he could count on the memories of Jekyll's parents and siblings to make him feel safe. Now what looked like a bad storm was brewing and he was terrified. The darks clouds had reduced the once bright and cheerful blue sky to a narrow band of light on the horizon. Lightning branched from cloud to cloud and thunder rumbled in the distance.

Quickly getting to his feet, he ran back to the castle at top speed, sobbing as the wind intensified and the rain began to fall in torrents.

"Oh, it's going to bad one, Mr. Jekyll!"

Jekyll looked up from his paper and was shocked by how the dark the room had become away from his reading lamp. "You are right, Gladys, it does look that way."

He folded his newspaper and got up to join her by the window. The world outside looked like it was about to end; the dark clouds now spanned from horizon to horizon, blotting out the sun entirely, as the wind striped leaves from the trees and ran made small rivers on the lawn.

"Dreadful." Jekyll muttered as Gladys closed the curtains and the pair walked over to the sofa in the center of the room and sat down before the roaring fire.

"Sir, have you seen that little rascal lately?"

"Who?"

"Hyde, sir. Who else is here?"

Jekyll inwardly cursed himself; WHY does he keep forgetting about that lonely creature?! "Can't say that I have, Gladys. But he must be around here somewhere."

"You do realize he is utterly terrified of storms, don't you?"

"He is?"

The look she gave him rivaled that of Medusa. "Sir, the last big storm we had he came to the kitchen looking like a scared puppy. I stayed up all night mothering the poor dear; rubbing his back and sitting with him and telling him it would be okay."

Jekyll closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "Why didn't he come to me?"

"Sir, to be honest, he thinks you've grown tired of him and I don't blame him. You rarely talk to him, you tell him to leave you alone and you push him away whenever he wants to be near you, sir. You treat him like a guard dog, but even dogs need affection every now and again. Someone to scratch behind their ear or toss a stick. "

"He's full grown, he shouldn't need that sort of thing."

"But he DOES, Mr. Jekyll! He's terribly lonely and wants nothing more than a companion. You get to leave this drafty old place and court those fine ladies out there; he can't go beyond the woods without the villagers threatening to shoot him!"

Before Jekyll could reply, the great door banged open and Hyde stumbled in, wide eyed, his clothes soaked and his pants legs covered in mud from where he'd fallen multiple times in his haste to get to the safety of the castle. Gladys and Jekyll got up and ran over to help the obviously terrified monster. Gladys took the ornately knitted afghan off the couch and draped it over Hyde's shoulders while Jekyll fought against the wind to close the door.

"Shh, love, shh," Gladys murmured as she hugged and gently rocked Hyde as he shivered in her arms, whimpering and burying his face against her chest as she led him over to the couch.

Jekyll watched the two of them, how Gladys soothed and comforted Hyde as the monster slowly began to calm down. She was right, he grudgingly thought.

Slowly and quietly he approached the couch, not sure how Hyde would react to him.

"Do you mind if Dr. Jekyll sits with us, love?"

Hyde peeked out from the blanket and shook his head. Jekyll was shocked to see that the monster had been crying, something he wasn't used to seeing.

"Daddy," Hyde whispered as Jekyll draped his arm across Hyde's bony shoulders.

"You're not eating enough, are you?"

Hyde lowered his gaze and Jekyll kissed the top of his head. "Never mind that now, let's just sit here till the storm ends."

They ended up staying there all night, all three of them falling asleep against one another, Hyde feeling happy and truly loved for once.


	7. Chapter 7

Hyde hated the romantic bits that seemed to infest half of the novels in Jekyll's small library. He hated reading about people falling in love and being loved back, the two things he knew he'd never experience. Angrily he closed the book he'd been reading and looked up to find Jekyll standing before him, a box in his hand and a look of shock on his face.

"You can read?!" He asked in a tone of utter disbelief.

Hyde rolled his eyes as he got up from the chair he'd been sitting in to return the book to the shelf he'd gotten it from. "Yeah, so?"

"I, Well, it's surprising, that's all."

"What, because I'm supposed to be some dumb brute?" Hyde sneered as turned to leave the room.

"If you were a, as you say, a "dumb brute", you wouldn't be this lonely, would you?"

Hyde froze in his tracks and turned to face Jekyll, his teeth bared in a wolfish snarl. "What do you-"

"This should help." Jekyll set the box on the ground and opened the lid.

The snarl melted from Hyde's face as a tiny orange kitten poked its head out of the box and meowed. Hyde approached the box and crouched down, half expecting the kitten to take one look at him and flee, just like everything else did. Instead, it looked interestedly at him as he reached out one clawed hand and gently stroked its head with one finger. The kitten purred and pushed back against his hand, causing Hyde to have feelings he never knew existed.

"She's all yours."

Hyde looked up at Jekyll as he scooped the kitten up and hugged it tightly. "Thanks."

.


	8. Chapter 8

Gladys watched with a smile as Hyde played with the kitten Jekyll had given him. He'd named it Ginger and Gladys could tell right away that he loved it like it was his child. He carried the kitten with him everywhere he went, catching her birds and mice, and sneaking a little bowl of milk from the kitchen when he thought Gladys wasn't looking.

The kitten crawled across the floor, her whole being focused on catching the felt toy mouse Hyde was slowly dragging across the floor on a string. She froze and then, quick as lightning, sank her claws and teeth into the little mouse. Hyde let go of the string as she picked it up in her mouth and pranced proudly over to him, dropping the mouse at his feet as he sank to the floor and picked her up.

"Good kitty kitty," Hyde cooed as he petted her.

"She loves you, Hyde, that she does."

Hyde smiled up at her as she walked over to them and lowered herself onto an overstuffed chair beside him.

"Do you think Jekyll does?"

"Does what, sweetie?"

"L-Love me." Hyde looked away from her as he picked up the kitten and hugged it against his chest.

Gladys sighed and worry the hem of her apron. "He does, but he just doesn't know who to express it."

"I just wish he would show it like those people in the books."

Hyde had been slowly reading everything in Jekyll's vast library and had always wished Jekyll would hug him and tell him he was proud of him, like the fathers in the books did. He blinked tears back and looked up at Gladys once again.

"I just wish I had a family." This time he couldn't stop the tears as Gladys got off the chair and sank down next to him. "With a mother and brothers and sisters and…and.."

He broke down and allowed her to pull him into a hug, all his loneliness coming out all at once. "I hate how quiet it is here, I've never had someone to really talk to or a pretty lady to dance with." He sniffled as the kitten purred and nuzzled his chin.

She sighed and looked up to find Jekyll standing in the doorway, a look of concern on his face.

"We need to get him out of this drafty old place, sir. He needs more than you or I can give him."

Jekyll bit his lip and nodded. "Tomorrow, I'll take him into town."


	9. Chapter 9

They had been walking for over an hour and were only a mere three miles from the town when Hyde stopped and closed his eyes, his head tilted back.

"Hyde?" Jekyll peered into the deep woods surrounding them as Hyde stood frozen in place. "What is it? Do you need to sit-"

"Quiet!" Hyde hissed. "I smell something…interesting." He opened his eyes and turned to look at the empty cow pasture behind him.

Soon the horrific sound of a cow bellowing in terror could be heard, followed shortly by the loud yipping and howling of whatever was chasing it.

"We-We should go." Jekyll grabbed the sleeve of Hyde's coat. Hyde growled and shook him off as a brown cow came charging across the field, a pack of creatures that resembled Hyde in hot pursuit.

Soon the cow dropped from exhaustion and was overtaken by the creatures, Jekyll turning away as they tore into it. When he turned back around Hyde was making his way across the field.

The leader of the pack, an older looking female creature with brown fur and ice blue eyes, growled menacingly at Hyde as he approached. He stopped and knelt on the ground before her in an act of submission. She jumped off the carcass and approached him on all fours, sniffing his hair and began to circle him. Seeing that he was unarmed and not a threat, she grunted and huffed, a signal that it was safe for the others to approach. One by one they sniffed him, each grunting in approval. Hyde grinned and followed them back to the cow, two of them making a spot for him. He tore into the carcass, the warm bodies on either side of him making him feel safe and at home for once in his life. Once the cow was reduced to bones, the pack moved to the shade of a large tree to sleep off their meal.

Jekyll, seated on his coat underneath a tree on the side of the road, smiled to see Hyde so happy. The monster was curled up next a female that appeared to be near his age. Her fur was a tawny color, her hair was blonde and her violet eyes were focused on Hyde, both of them giggling at what the other said.


	10. Chapter 10

Jekyll smiled to see Hyde so happy. To see the once miserable creature laugh and wrestle with his new found friend, the violet eyed female Hyde told him was named Victoria.

For several weeks Hyde would leave early in the morning, only returning at night, exhausted, yet happier then Jekyll had ever seen him. This went on till one night Hyde brought Victoria home with him, the two strolling hand in hand into the old castle.

"Oh, aren't they darling!" Gladys cooed and twittered; Hyde and Victoria blushing and squirming in embarrassment at all the attention, Hyde giving Jekyll a "save me!" look.

"Let's give the love bird's some room to breathe." Jekyll laughed as Hyde and Victoria bolted up the stairs, grateful to get away.

"I'm so glad they found each other." Gladys told Jekyll as they listened to the attic door being slammed shut, Hyde having taken over the space and now claiming it as theirs.


End file.
